Efforts to overcome difficulties of new students in Nghe An

25 year old freshman

This year's enrollment season, Nguyen Thi Tu Anh (born in 1998) is probably one of the oldest new students of Nghe An University of Economics.

Three years ago, Tu Anh was a former student of Le Viet Thuat High School. After finishing grade 12, despite getting a high score on the high school graduation exam, she put her dream of going to university on hold. The past three years have also been a special time for her because from a student with difficult circumstances and a disability, she has risen up and studied on her own to become a Chinese teacher. The money she earned, in addition to taking care of her family, she saved up to have money to go to university.

The place where Tu Anh and her mother live is in a ground-level house near Bui Thi Xuan Street, Trung Do Ward, Vinh City, on a plot of land given by her grandparents. The entrance to the house is only a small path about 1 meter wide, enough for two people to go in and out. The house is simple, with only one bedroom, a living room and a small kitchen, which was also built with government support for poor households with special difficulties.

Living conditions are cramped, so the living room is also the bedroom. On the simple mattress, Tu Anh places a small folding table every day to teach Chinese to her students. Because of the difficult conditions, Tu Anh can only tutor 1 to 2 students at most in each class.

In the neighborhood where Tu Anh’s family lives, everyone sympathizes with the situation of the mother and her four children. Tu Anh’s family has three children, all three of whom are disabled, a result of Agent Orange exposure from their grandfather. Even Tu Anh’s mother has been disabled since childhood, thin and weak.

A few years ago, when she was still healthy, she could still pedal her bike to the market every day to sell sweet potatoes and cassava to earn a living. But a few years ago, after an accident, she became so weak that she could no longer go to the market. The life of the mother and her children depended on the allowance for the disabled, which was less than 2 million VND/month.

Ms. Hoa - Tu Anh's mother also said that when she was born, her family knew that she had Agent Orange. But because her father lost all his papers, she and her children were disadvantaged and could not enjoy the regime. Her life was also full of ups and downs. She got married and had several children, but they did not live together for long. The couple broke up, and the children hardly had any contact with their father. Later, her parents gave her a small piece of land, and the mother and children moved back to their maternal grandparents' house to live.

Due to difficult family conditions, no one in Mrs. Hoa's family could study properly. The eldest daughter only finished 9th grade and then dropped out of school to work in the South as a factory worker. The youngest child also only finished primary school and then dropped out. The most studious person was Tu Anh, but due to illness and weakness since childhood, and the family being too poor, she could only enter 1st grade at the age of 10. Recalling that memory, Tu Anh said: I really liked going to school and was eager to go to school. I remember, on the first day of school, my mother promised to go to the market to get goods and then take me to school. Yet at 5am, I had already packed my bags and went to school by myself.

Going to school is Tu Anh's greatest happiness. Therefore, during her high school years, although she is older than her classmates and has difficulty traveling, Tu Anh has never missed a day of school. She is also very optimistic, so although she is many years behind her classmates, Tu Anh has never been pessimistic. On the contrary, the more difficult and arduous things are, Tu Anh tells herself to try hard, to first take care of herself and then take care of her mother and younger siblings.

During her high school years, Tu Anh attended a 6-month course at a Chinese language center and achieved HSK5 certification. Thanks to her good Chinese skills, the center later created conditions for Tu Anh to assist in teaching and providing private tutoring for some new students.

The rest of the time, Tu Anh tutors at home. Before that, when she was in high school, tutoring was also a job that Tu Anh did regularly, like teaching students in elementary and middle school. In addition, she also tutored some weak students in class.

This female student said that her biggest dream is to study at a foreign language school to improve her Chinese. However, due to her family circumstances, she cannot go to Hanoi to study, and in Vinh there is no school that offers this major. Therefore, Tu Anh chose Nghe An University of Economics, majoring in accounting, to fulfill her dream.

I think the next 4 years will be very difficult. But if I don't try, the 4 years will pass by meaninglessly and I will have nothing in my hands. Instead of sitting and complaining, I want to stand up on my own two feet, even if those feet may not be healthy."

Nguyen Thi Tu Anh - New student of Nghe An University of Economics.

Go to college to change your life

Three years ago, when he first entered grade 10 at Nghi Loc 5 High School, Nguyen Xuan Chien never thought he would go to university. Chien's family in Hamlet 19, Nghi Van Commune, has been poor for many years. Chien's father left when Chien's mother just gave birth to their second child.

For many years, Chien's mother has been farming alone, raising two brothers, earning less than 2 million VND/month. With this small amount of money, it is difficult to cover daily living expenses, let alone pay for Chien's university tuition. "In the past, I just thought that I would try to finish school, get a diploma, then go to work as a factory worker, and soon have money to support my mother and my younger brother," Chien said.

Despite his difficult circumstances, Chien is very intelligent and hard-working. During his junior high school years, Chien was awarded the title of excellent student of the district many times. In high school, with his advantages, Chien was also selected by teachers to be in the Math Excellent Student Team. In grade 12, Chien participated in the Provincial Excellent Student Competition and brought home third prize for the school.

This turning point helped Chien change his thinking. Chien's biggest desire now is not to work as a factory worker or go abroad to work, but he wants to go to university, get a decent degree and then have a stable job. During that difficult time, his homeroom teacher Nguyen Van Ly was the one who connected him and brought him to the "Lighting up the Faith" scholarship.

Over the past 17 years, some people told us to finish high school and go to work to help our mother; some people said that if we could study well and get high scores, we should try to get into military schools to make our mother less tired; but, even though I am a bit selfish, I still really want to pursue my strengths in the natural sciences, so I always try my best every day. The results I have achieved make me very happy and I am even more motivated to study hard to escape poverty, so that my family can have a more comfortable life."

Nguyen Xuan Chien wrote in his application for the scholarship "Lighting up the faith".

With many consecutive years of being an excellent student, third prize in the provincial excellent student competition in Mathematics and a fairly high score in the competency assessment test, before the results of the High School Graduation Exam were available, Chien was announced to be admitted to the Information Security major - Academy of Posts and Telecommunications.

While waiting for the scholarship results, Chien traveled more than 20km to Vinh City every day to apply for a job as a waiter at a coffee shop. He tried not to spend the little salary he had to pay for his tuition.

After many efforts, good news finally came to Chien when at the end of July, he received the results of his application being approved and the "Lighting up Faith" scholarship awarded annually will help Chien cover all tuition fees and part of his living expenses during his 4 years of study in Hanoi.

The new students of the Academy of Posts and Telecommunications also shared many dreams and ambitions and promised to continue to strive to graduate soon, have a stable job, help their families and help many other students in similar situations to rise up and overcome adversity.